Corner assembly for exterior siding

ABSTRACT

A corner assembly including a base corner guide to be secured over an existing structure and having fastener gripping means at the edge thereof for receiving a tandem head fastener and a corner cap which is secured by said tandem head fastener to said guide and which has a locking means for gripping the second of said tandem heads.

United States Patent 1191 Leddy 1 Aug. 13, 1974 1 CORNER ASSEMBLY FOR EXTERIOR SIDING [521 US. Cl. 52/278, 52/288 [51 Int. CI E04b 1/00, E041) 7/00 [58] Field of Search 52/105, 127, 275, 276,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1925 Topping 52/105 8/1930 Ellinwood... 52/278 10/1936 Honan 52/276 1/1940 Young 52/278 2,255,736 9/1941 Odelli ..52/27s 2,607,449 8/1952 Daniels .,s2/27s FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 915,150 7/1954 Germany 52/277 710,395 6/1954 Great Britain 52/276 Primary Examiner-Henry C. Sutherland Attorney, Agent, or FirmDominic J. TermineIIo [57] ABSTRACT A corner assembly including a base corner guide to be secured over an existing structure and having fastener gripping means at the edge thereof for receiving a tandem head fastener and a corner cap which is secured by said tandem head fastener to said guide and which has a locking means for gripping the second of said tandem heads.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEB M SHEET 2 OF 2 CORNER ASSEMBLY FOR EXTERIOR SIDING This invention relates to the installation of exterior siding and more particularly to the installation of exterior corner caps on horizontal exterior siding such as metallic, plastic and asbestos siding.

For purposes of simplification, reference will be made to aluminum siding, but it should be understood that the principles herein described can obviously be applied to all types of siding materials such as steel, vinyl and asbestos sidings.

One of the biggest problems and the source of repeated call-backs for siding installers is the corner caps. Corner caps are to be fitted over the corner of existing structures and the horizontal siding installed on adjoining walls forming the corner. Because of vertical pitch of existing siding and the use of both lath and backing board on aluminum siding, it is not unusual for the corner cap to be a substantial distance, sometimes up to 2 inches, from any nailing surface. As a result, the comer caps are frequently poorly nailed to the structure and often become loosened, or even fall off the job. Another problem at the corner of an aluminum siding job arises if the aluminum panels on the walls forming the corners are not properly engaged by the locking flange on the bottom side of the corner cap. This results in the corner cap becoming disengaged at the bottom and flapping against the structure about the pivot point created at the nailed top side of the cap.

Still another problem which arises at the corners an aluminum siding job is the lack of a truly'square corner. In order for the job to be completed in a high quality way, the aluminum siding demands a truly square corner, but because of variations in the existing siding, the buildout of the aluminum siding which may also include a backing material and other variables, a truly square corner is seldom achieved.

Accordingly, it is a main object to provide abase corner guide for providing a truly square and plum corner on an existing structure.

Another object is to provide a base corner guide which includes means for securing and gripping nails or other fasteners.

Still another object is to provide a base corner guide having horizontal level lines spaced at predetermined intervals along the length thereof to guide the installation of level siding.

Yet another object is to provide a corner cap which has means for locking the bottom of such cap onto a nail or other fastener.

A further object is to provide a comer assembly which provides for securely mounting a comer cap on an aluminum siding job.

These and other objects will either be pointed out or become apparent from the following description and drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the assembly invention;

FIG. 2 is a prospective view of the base comer guide on a structure;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the base corner guide; and

FIG. 4' is-an'enlarged view ofthe base corner guide.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly FIGS.

4 and 3, the base corner guide member is shown generally at M. The guide member M has two sides, 1 and 3,

.which are-at substantially right anglesto 'each'other to' form a corner. Each side is preferably about 3 inches long (see dimension b). At the edge 5 of the guide member M formed by sides 1 and 3 is a continuous nail receiving channel 7 for receiving and gripping a nail or other fastening means 8 which preferably has a knurled or screw thread-like surface for aiding in gripping the channel 7. Each side 1 and 3 has longitudinally extending reinforcement ribs 9. The purpose of the ribs is to make the member M which is usually made of aluminum, more rigid and since each rib is about l/4 inch in depth (see dimension c), they also provide space for the nail receiving channel 7 at the corner by holding the member M 1/4 inch off the structure on each side, thereby creating room for the rear 6 of the channel 7 at the corner. Nailing holes 11 are provided in each side of the guide member M for facilitating nailing of the member to the structure.

The base corner guide serves several important functions. Nailing the base corner guide M over the existing shingles or other base materials on the structure provides a furring effect at the corner to assure the same vertical pitch for all panels installed at the corner. Further, the base comer guide M is preferably provided with horizontal level marks 13 located every eight inches (see dimension e) along the length of each side 1 and 3 of the member M. These marks 13 provide a guide to assure proper alignment of the aluminum panels installed on adjoining walls forming the corner of the structure. Because the level marks are located on the entire length of the base comer guide M, any loss of proper alignment due to panels not being locked properly can be immediately detected since the panels, having predetermined exposed surfaces usually 8 inches, will not line up with the level marks 13. Further, the level marks on the base guide member which is preferably some multiple of 8 inches, usually 10 feet for example (see dimension a, FIG. 2) serve as a means for carrying a level line up along the structure to higher areas in advance of installing panels. By joining 10 feet lengths of base guide members, as for example by placing a headless nail vertically in the channel 7 and crimping the channel 7 so that the nail will protrude vertically out the top of the base corner guide and then telescoping the channel of another 10 foot length of base corner guide over the nail, the level line marks can be carried to any height.

Also provided on the base corner guide M are vertical guide lines 15. The line, which should be about one half inch from the channel 7 on either side, provides a guide so that panels installed on the walls of the structure are extended close enough to the corner to receive an individual corner cap.

Perhaps the most important function served by the base comer guide M is that it provides a nail receiving channel 7 to nail into to secure individual corner caps. As mentioned above, frequently any nailing surface was a good distance from the comer cap which resulted in a loosely held cap which not infrequently would come loose or fall off the structure.

ln installing the base corner guide M of the corner assembly A shown in FIG. 1, the guide M is nailed to the existing structure as shown in FIG. 2 over existing siding; then referring to FIG. 1 aluminum panels P are installed over the corner guide member M using the marks 13 and 15 to ensure proper alignment thereof on the structure. Now the individual corner caps C are ready to ,beput in place. The cap C is installed over the panels P by securing locking flange 17 at the bottom side of cap C onto the aluminum panel, thereby being in interlocking relationship therewith. Top side of the corner cap C has a nail or fastener receiving portion 19 having a hole 20 for receiving a nail. Preferably, a tandem head nail 22 is driven through the hole in the portion 19 into the channel 7 of member M (see FIG. 3) securing the top of the cap C to the structure. The second of the tandem heads protrudes from the cap C enough so that as the next cap is installed, a locking member 21 located on the flange 17 can grip the protruding nail head to lock the bottom of the cap to the corner. The locking member 21 can be any equivalent structure, but preferably consists of two vertical pieces, 23 and 24, located on the flange 17 at the corner of the cap C and forming therebetween a groove for fitting around and locking onto a nail. As will be obvious, the tandem head nail secures the corner cap C to the base guide member M and provides a lock for the bottom of the corner cap. One nail secures the top and bottom of consecutive corner caps.

The combination of the base corner guide M, the corner cap C and the tandem nail fastener provides a corner assembly that is pleasing to the eye so it is properly horizontally aligned and vertically plum all the way along the corner at any height. Most importantly, it assures that all corners fit properly and will remain intact.

Having described my invention with reference to a preferred embodiment, it is understood that once the concept is grasped by one skilled in the art, minor modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A corner assembly for use in exterior siding of an existing structure comprising a base corner guide having two sides forming substantially a right angle therebetween (to fit) fitted over and (be) secured to the existing corner of (a) said structure; and having fastener gripping means between said sides at the joined edges thereof;

a corner cap (to be) fitted over said base corner guide and overlapped exterior siding installed on the walls of said existing structure, said cap having a fastener receiving portion at the top side thereof and a reentrant flange at the bottom side thereof (for) locking onto said overlapped exterior siding;

tinuous channel formed between said sides. 

1. A corner assembly for use in exterior siding of an existing structure comprising a base corner guide having two sides forming substantially a right angle therebetween (to fit) fitted over and (be) secured to the existing corner of (a) said structure; and having fastener gripping means between said sides at the joined edges thereof; a corner cap (to be) fitted over said base corner guide and overlapped exterior siding installed on the walls of said existing structure, said cap having a fastener receiving portion at the top side thereof and a reentrant flange at the bottom side thereof (for) locking onto said overlapped exterior siding; a tandem head fastener (adapted to be) driven through said fastener receiving portion at the top side of said cap and into the fastener gripping means in said base corner guide; and locking means located on said cap in the reentrant flange thereof (for) gripping the tandem head of said fastener (to lock) locking the bottom side of said cap to said exterior siding.
 2. Assembly according to claim 1 wherein said fastener gripping means in said base corner guide is a continuous channel formed between said sides. 